| The press release below, on the left, accompanied the January 27, 2010 announcement of the Apple iPad. The press release on the right accompanied today’s announcement of Microsoft’s Surface. While both releases follow in a tradition that seems to dictate that press releases be among the worst content created by large corporations (right up there with instructions if “some assembly is required” and cease-and-desist letters), reading a few paragraphs of these two releases can help you understand why Apple is Apple, the brilliant marketing company; and Microsoft is, well, a wonderful American company we can all be proud of, bless their heart (as we say where I live).Here’s what to look for (and again, these are press releases, not actual “writing,” so forgive the “constructed-by-committee” mule-ish style of both): From the get-go, Apple positions the iPad as a “Magical & Revolutionary Device at an Unbelievable Price.” Microsoft, on the other hand, calls Surface, “Microsoft-made hardware to be available starting with release of Windows 8 and Windows RT.” In other words, the Apple press release is talking to consumers while the Microsoft release is talking to the industry.The entire Microsoft release is dedicated to listing features and attributes of the Surface. The Apple release focuses on the magical things a person can do with the iPad.The essence of Apple is found in this excerpt: |